Go digital this year

Before shopping, understand what you want and need in a high-tech camera
Digital cameras are one of the season's hottest stocking stuffers

The good news: Prices are down, and shoppers have an array of colors, sizes and styles to choose from.
The bad news: Like most gadgets, digital cameras are laden with all sorts of hairy-scary techno-terms, such as megapixels and optical image stabilization.
Many are so complicated, it's hard for wannabe shutterbugs to imagine venturing away from the land of automatic settings.

"I don't think camera shopping has ever been nearly as challenging as it is today," said Tom Dorian, co-owner of Don's Camera in Olympia.
"The changes that have taken place in the last five years are bigger than any change I've seen in the 20-plus years that I've been in this business."
Digital photography 101

Freelance photographer Barbra Kates of Yelm teaches a series of classes through Timberland Regional Library that covers everything from buying a digital camera to using photography software for enhancements, prints and online publishing.
The classes are extremely popular and usually fill up within a few hours of registration.
Kates' main audience: older people who aren't technologically adventurous.
"It's that gang of people that are afraid of the VCR remote control," she said.
Kates - who specializes in documentary, travel and underwater photography - began teaching digital photography a few years ago aboard Princess Cruise ships.
"People would show up on the ship with brand new cameras in boxes and not know how to use them," she said.

Start with research
Before heading out to the store, Kates recommends coming up with a game plan: Figure out what the camera will be used for, learn the industry jargon and research online to compare different models.
Once at the store, try several different brands and styles. Don't just browse and compare prices - ask a salesperson to insert a battery and memory card and start clicking pictures, Kates said.
It's important to make sure a camera feels right - that the buttons aren't too small for your fingers or the menu screen isn't hard for you to navigate.

One of the biggest mistakes is buying "too much" of a camera.

Read Lisa Pemberton's full article at The Olympian

Picture of the day:
Blue Flax (2735) from the Colorado wildflowers series

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